'Exorcism' At Local Home Depot Broken Up By Police

Nobody has claimed responsibility for the exorcism held inside a Pennsylvania Home Depot in mid-June.

The entire incident was a line in a police blotter from the Dickson City Police Department that almost went unnoticed.. The description said, “Commerce Blvd. @ Home Depot for disorderly people having an exorcism in the lumber isle [sic] for the dead trees. They were escorted out of the building.”

The Philly Voice quoted an officer as saying the incident was a “séance type of thing for the dead,” but did not name the officer.

No charges were filed, and despite widespread news coverage, nobody came forward to explain the reasoning behind their attempts to hold an exorcism at the home improvement store outside of Scranton.

The incident did make its way into the July 3 episode of NPR’s “Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me” news quiz. A question about the exorcism was asked during the Lighting Fill in the Blank game at the end of the show.

“According to the police, it was the middle of the afternoon when a group of people wandered into the Home Depot and started exorcising the wood. And you know how it is at Home Depot. The demon left the wood and immediately looked for someone to possess, but it could not find a single damn person who worked there,” quipped guest host and journalist Faith Salie.